There is currently a hot dispute and controversy between the three security agencies – Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Service (DSS), and Nigerian Security & Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), in Osun State, DAILY GIST has learnt.
It was gathered that the trio of the security operatives has been at loggerheads over superiority claim thus causing disharmony among them and their officers.
Information gathered by DAILY GIST on Friday revealed that the dispute has been on for some period silently until the recent parade of suspects by the Commissioner of Police in Osun, Olawale Olokode, where a suspect accused NSCDC and DSS of connivance in the kidnapping was said to have fueled the matter.
DAILY GIST reported that a suspect identified to be, Akeem Ogunibi, who was paraded by the police for alleged kidnapping, was said to have fingered NSCDC personnel and DSS operatives in the kidnap of a Bureau De Change operator, Mallam Bala.
On Friday, the Osun State Police Command paraded the prime suspect, one Ajibola Ogunibi, who told newsmen that he connived with DSS and NSCDC operatives to kidnap and demand ransom from a Bureau De Change operator.
It was learnt that the police commissioner arrested and detained the accused officers without informing his sister’s agencies.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, Wale Olokode, in a statement said the command did not confirm the identity of the alleged operatives of the DSS and NSCDC prior to the announcement.
The Public Relations Officer of the NSCDC, Adigun Daniel, however, condemned the state police for not confirming the identities of the alleged operatives before releasing the information to the media, thus, added that the command was not aware of any arrest of its members before the parading.
Since Saturday, the sister agencies have been on loggerheads, it was learnt.
A security source said the refusal of the commissioner of police to inform sister agencies infuriated the duo of the NSCDC and DSS and they perceived the action of the police as deliberate.
The source said the police has always been in haste to parade suspects without conducting any investigation on the allegation against them.
According to reports, Bala who was said to have been kidnapped was arrested by the security men over a business transaction.
It was gathered that the suspect, Ogunibi, was a customer who had gone to challenge Bala for underlying his brother who sold a gold chain to him.
Ogunibi was said to have invited the security agencies to arrest Bala, an allegation purportedly turned to kidnap.
However according to information filed to the DSS, Zakariyau, the Bureau De Change operator was arrested by the security operatives in the Joint Task Force due to a deal involving a necklace he bought from a customer.
But the Bureau de Change operator later reported to the police that the officers, led by his customer, kidnapped him and took some money from him, which prompted the police to go after the officers and arrest them, from their houses.
The security source said the refusal of the commissioner of police to inform sister agencies infuriated the NSCDC and DSS and they perceived the action of the police as deliberate. “The police have been competing with DSS in the state. The action of the police is intentional.”
Complementing the claim, the NSCDC said there was no case of kidnapping, conspiracy or attempted murder added that the operation was a business operation that went wrong.
Adigun revealed that the men involved were later released on Sunday for further investigation. “Investigation is still ongoing to ascertain the Genuity of the operation that happened even on the so-called businessman Bala Zakariyahu.”
While a report said that the purported arrest of Bala happened on December 28, another report said it was December 30th, 2021.
